Why do 90% of Streamers Purchase a Capture Card? Reasons Why You Need One As Well
When it comes to game streams, most new streamers may wonder if they need a capture card.
In fact, a capture card is not required to stream live. Some streamers do live streams with computers and the OBS studio. But, you definitely won’t regret it if you get a capture card. Below, check why?
Stream live with OBS Studio.
What are the problems with live streaming on computers only?
Live streaming requires video encoding, and recording involves hard disk storage, both of which involve the use of computer resources. Although it is acceptable to live stream without a capture card, high-quality video streams require a higher computer performance, therefore, it is difficult for a single computer to handle both streaming and recording at the same time.
In short, playing games while streaming live is extremely difficult in most cases. It may cause your game's frame rate to drop, loading times to increase, and live stream content to become blurry and laggy.
You might be wondering: Can I get around the computer resource issue by using two computers — one for gameplay and the other for live recording — it may not be as smooth as you imagine.
A. Capturing with Software
First of all, if you have extra internet speed for a stable video stream, then streaming with software on two computers works for you. But, it’s hard to find software that can realize lossless streaming for now.
And if you want to capture and stream your gameplay on Switch or PS5, then the solution above does not work at all. You can only rely on the hardware solution — a capture card — to capture your gameplay through HDMI.
Typical game streaming setup with PC, two screens, microphone, and a camera.
B. Capturing with Capture Card
Capture card is one of the typical live stream accessories dedicated to integrating video processing and handling video encoding.
In theory, wired transmission is more stable, whereas wireless transmission is relatively unstable and easily affected by the environment. Capture card is able to transfer images from one computer to another losslessly, resulting in higher image quality.
Furthermore, capture card is a sole means of obtaining images from some devices that cannot be streamed via software. Digital cameras, gaming consoles, video players, and other devices with HDMI output interfaces are examples of these types of devices.
Capture cards can also do more than just capture from standard devices. Capture products such as EZCast CatchU Capture Box allow you to record gameplay on a USB disk without using a computer.
Besides, the EZCast CatchU Capture Box is designed for streaming mobile games in that you can stream your gameplays by simply connecting your smartphone to the capture box via a USB cable.
Using EZCast CatchU to stream live and simultaneously record in OBS Studio.
To summarize, a capture card is worth investing in terms of effectiveness, stability, and functions, and is unquestionably more suitable for game streamers for the following reasons:
1) If you don't have a powerful PC, a capture card can help with encoding and ensure better streaming quality and stability.
2) You do not need to invest in a second computer.
3) It records gameplay from gaming consoles such as PS5, Nintendo Switch, and others.
4) It enables real-time simultaneous recording while streaming.
5) It offers efficiency and extra features such as mobile direct streaming and USB disk recording.
EZCast CatchU’s outstanding feature of mobile direct streaming & one-click-record to USB storage.
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